1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus which automatically track a moving object to pick up an image of it.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an automatic tracking function which may be able to track a moving object by manipulating a TV camera in pan and tilt mode mounted on a universal head such as one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2868087 is known. Also, a method in that the automatic tracking function may be combined with a trace function which may duplicate operation based on operational data of zoom, focus, pan and tilt recorded in advance, as described in Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. H6-14698, is known.
Further, a method in that an object is automatically tracked so that a primary control position of the object is kept to be at a constant position in an image plane, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-247440, is known. In this method, with respect to primary control position data composed of at least one of primary control positions of pan, tilt and height, secondary control position data composed of at least one of secondary control positions excluding the primary ones of pan, tilt, zoom and focus is prepared and recorded in advance.
Then, a disadvantage of undesirable up-and-down motion in the automatic tracking function as described above can be eliminated, and tracking without limit of a moving range can be achieved, by varying the secondary control position data relative to the primary control positions.
However, in the conventional embodiments described above, because at least one of the pan, tilt and height to be the primary control positions of the targeted object will always take a constant value, an acquirable image may be limited, and tracking sufficient to fulfill aims of a photographer may be difficult.